3.20.2010

My dear kittlings, this week's interview is a bit late but certainly not least. Neil Vokes' contributes to SECRET PROJECT this week with his story MARC OF THE VAMPIRES. Vokes is a legend and having him aboard SECRET PROJECT was truly an honor. I asked Neil a few questions about his past, present and future in comics. Enjoy!

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Mary E. Brickthrower: How long have you been reading comics?

Neil Vokes: Well the 1st comic I recall reading was SUPERMAN in a barber shop-back then they had them for the kids so we'd scream less often,I guess-My best guess is I was 4 years old,so 52 years...yes-I'm that old.

MEB: When did you decide to become an artist / writer / creator?

NV: I probably decided to become an artist back when I was a kid,but I don't think I seriously considered it as a vocation until i was in my late 20s,after losing my "real" job-my wife,Siri, urged me to follow my dream-amazingly,I actually got work in the industry-it's been 26 years now.

MEB: How did you become involved with SECRET PROJECT?

NV: Honestly it's been so long since we started this I don't recall exactly how I got involved-I think i was reading about it in Oeming's forum and basically "raised my hand" and volunteered to donate a story and whatever advice I could to the Project.

MEB: What else are you working on right now?

NV: Recently,I've been working on several short stories,including one for Scott Wegener's ATOMIC ROBO, written by old pal Robert Tinnell;Rich Woodall's ZOMBIE BOMB!, written by another old friend,Jack Herman who wrote EAGLE with me back in the '80s; and another story with Jack for Kerry Gammill's upcoming anthology, BELA LUGOSI'S TALES FROM THE GRAVE.

I'm also in the midst of drawing a new series with Bob Tinnell called FLESH & BLOOD-it's another "monster rally" comic like our THE BLACK FOREST 1 & 2 graphic novels-though in this case,instead of an homage to Universal Studios' films, we're using the great Hammer Films company's work like HORROR OF DRACULA, FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED and VAMPIRE LOVERS as our inspiration-so it will be a more "mature" title. After that I hope to get back to Bob's other script, THE VOICE-this is a very dark,violent thriller with supernatural elements-then I have a pet project on the boards with another writer friend, David Zuzelo, which would be pure mindless fun-it's working title is MACISTE at the moment-the only way to describe it would be an R rated THUNDARR THE BARBARIAN and that doesn't begin to cover everything we have planned.

3.04.2010

*well almost live. I mean, I am posting this interview LIVE from sunny Tampa where I'll be celebrating some close friend's birthdays and taking a Phillies spring training game. But let's talk about the matter at hand - Mr. SAM LITTLE and his contribution to SECRET PROJECT. His story is called "Fuzzy Fucking Navel" and you might be surprised what it's about. I talked with Little about "Fuzzy..." as well as other comic related things. Check it out!

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Mary E. Brickthrower: How long have you been reading comics?

Sam Little: I've been reading comics since the dawn of man. One of my earliest memories is cutting out pictures of Spider-Man and Captain America from comic book covers and taping them up on the walls of my room. Oh, how that childhood memory torments my inner nerd. Would that I could only reach back through time and slap myself. STOP! CUTTING! UP! THE COMICS! That'd teach me.

MEB: Conversely, when did you decide to become an creator?

SL: It's all due to those crazy nutty message boards. I joined the Benbo a few years back to ask Bendis a question about Ultimate Spider-man.

Did I really just type that out loud? Gadzooks.

Anyhoo, whilst perusing the various boards I came upon something on the Oeming board called the MONDAY FUN SKETCH thread that Scott Wegener had started. I'd kinda fell out of drawing for awhile, but there was some cool stuff posted in the thread and everybody seemed pretty loose and non-judgmental so I posted a couple of things. This went on for a few Mondays and I got more and more cranked up about drawing again. The nice folks on the board were very encouraging, I must say. Then I happened to pick up Bendis' TOTAL SELLOUT and I really liked the comics in there where people just kind of told a story. And I thought to myself, "Gee, maybe I could do something like that..." And so I did. And I just never stopped. Man. That was a long story.

MEB: How did you become involved with SECRET PROJECT?

SL: You know what? I don't remember. I am old and am no longer able to retain new long-term memories. Or short-term ones. I'm sorry...who are you again? But, no. I'm guessing somebody posted about it on the Oeming board and I said "Sign me up."

MEB: What else are you working on right now?

SL: Well, I'm still kicking out those "people-telling-stories" comics over at http://www.untruetales.com/. It updates a new page every Sunday. I also did a hardboiled crime comic called THE HAMMER with a few other guys over at Zuda. It's about an angry pink bunny that hits people with a hammer. And it's a hardboiled crime comic. Did I mention that already? Anyways, you can find all 60 pages of it here: http://www.zudacomics.com/the_hammer

Anyways, It's an honor to be included in the Secret Project with all these talented folks. Thanks for having me!